APOPKA MIDDLE SCHOOL RECEIVES LOWE’S GRANT FOR APOPKA MIDDLE OUTDOOR READING AREA AND GARDEN

$2000

APOPKA, FLORIDA – Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $2000 Toolbox for Education grant to Apopka Middle School in their outdoor reading area to encourage students to read in an outdoor student-friendly area. Apopka Middle School is one of 1000 schools or parent organizations to be awarded a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant for school improvement projects benefiting public education K-12 across the U.S. during the 2007-2008 school year.

The outdoor reading area will feature various murals of books popular with middle school readers. It will house 30 chairs for students to use for reading, 20 of which are Adirondack style chairs. “AMORA” (standing for “Apopka Middle Outdoor Reading Area”) is a year-round outdoor classroom setting designed to give Apopka Middle School children from grades 6^th through 8^th the opportunity to participate in engaging book reading outside will enhance the school’s Accelerated Reader Program. The project is scheduled to be completed in late March, 2008. Once completed in March, individual teachers and their classes will be able to sign up to use the area.

Efforts to enrich the lives of children in our communities,” said Larry D. Stone, chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “By supporting schools like Apopka Middle’s, we believe we are contributing to a cause that’s important to our customers and employees and helping build a stronger foundation for the children who will be tomorrow’s employees, homeowners and community leaders.”

Launched in partnership with PTO Today, a leading organization serving parent-teacher groups, the Toolbox for Education program is providing more than 1,000 grants totaling $6.5 million during the 2007-2008 school year. Grants of up to $5,000 are available to public schools in the U.S. and Canada for a wide range of improvement projects and urban schools or school districts may be eligible to receive Toolbox grants up to $500,000 for school improvement initiatives. All K-12 schools in the United States are eligible. Parent groups may apply by visiting www.toolboxforeducation.com.

Since its inception in 1957, Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has helped communities nationwide through employee volunteerism and financial contributions. In 2006, the Foundation supported community and education projects across the country through grants totaling more than $15 million.

ABOUT LOWE’S

Lowe’s is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, United Way of America, and the Home Safety Council, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities across the country.  In 2006, the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation awarded $15 million to diverse organizations across the United States.  Lowe’s also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe’s Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative.  Lowe’s is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion and has more than 1,500 stores in 49 states and three stores in Canada.  For more information, visit Lowes.com/community.